Steadman Stahl
President
Dade County Police Benevolent Association
10680 NW 25th St.
Doral, FL 33172
June 19, 2019
Dear President Stahl,
On behalf of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, the union representing nearly 50,000 active and retired New York City police officers, I write to request your solidarity in our ongoing labor dispute with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Over the coming months, Mayor de Blasio will likely be visiting your jurisdiction as he seeks the Democratic nomination for president, and we are asking for your help to spread the news about his abysmal and hypocritical record on labor and public safety issues.
Mayor de Blasio is campaigning on the slogan “Working People First,” but when it comes to his treatment of his own municipal workforce, his campaign slogan should be “Do As I Say, Not As I Do.” Under the de Blasio administration, New York City’s workforce has received substantially lower raises than they did during the comparable periods under Republican Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg.
As of this writing, NYC PBA members have worked for over two years without a contract. We are now underpaid by upwards of 30% compared to police officers in comparable cities, which has a significant impact on our ability to recruit and retain the Finest. At the same time, our “progressive” mayor has lined his own pockets by increasing his own salary to make himself one of the highest paid municipal executives in the nation.
In addition to his hypocrisy on labor issues, Mayor de Blasio’s lack of leadership has placed a tremendous strain on police officers, who are increasingly serving as the “solution of last resort” for many serious social problems that have grown during his administration.
For example, Mayor de Blasio has degraded the mental health infrastructure in our city. His administration’s signature $1.2 billion mental health program ThriveNYC — led by his wife, Chirlane McCray, who is neither a mental health professional nor a city employee — has been so badly mismanaged that clinicians involved with the program reportedly believe that it has “caused more harm than good.” The mayor has also failed to take any significant action to address New York City’s housing crisis, with the homeless population ballooning by 17% during his nearly six years in office.
The results of this mismanagement are now evident in the growing disorder in New York City’s public spaces. In particular, our subway system – the lifeblood of the city’s economy – is in a state of crisis. It now functions as a ward for the mentally ill and temporary housing for the homeless, where criminals run rampant and prey on innocent New Yorkers. Once again, it falls to police officers to pick up the pieces: for the first time ever, the NYPD’s summer intensive enforcement effort will be directing more officers to the subways to keep a lid on the chaos.
As you can see, a President Bill de Blasio would be an unmitigated disaster, not just for union members but for any American who wants a functioning government. We therefore ask you to join us in spreading the word about Bill de Blasio’s hypocritical labor views and general incompetence by sharing this with your members, your local union brothers and sisters and your neighbors in the communities you serve. And when Mayor de Blasio comes to town, let him know he should be focused on the job he was first elected to do — and he can start by paying police officers a fair market wage.
Sincerely,
Patrick J. Lynch
President